Since the coronavirus began spreading in the United States late last winter, physician and researcher Kenneth Remy at Washington University Medical Center in St. Louis has treated more than 1,000 covid patients.
More than 100 of these had to be put on a respirator.
But many of those who ended up there were so seriously ill that they did not survive.
After being at the forefront of corona care for more than six months, Remy decided to send a message to the public.
With the help of his mobile camera, he recorded video clips for just over a week that show what it can look like for a covid patient who is about to die.
"Extremely difficult to witness"
The idea to make a covid simulator came to him after he was forced to witness how another of his patients fell victim to covid-19.
In connection with the patient, a man, getting his breathing tube connected to a respirator, he looked up and asked for a favor.
- He asked me to tell his family that he loved them because he thought he was going to die.
It was a very strong moment and extremely difficult to witness, in fact he died shortly afterwards.
And in the same vein, we lost another patient.
In the covid simulator, Kenneth Remy is wearing a protective mask and goggles.
The clip is filmed from a bottom-up perspective and gives the impression that the viewer is in a hospital bed.
- I wanted to show what it looks like when we are about to put a breathing tube in your throat.
In fact, this may be the last moment in life that you are still able to breathe on your own, he says.
Want to reach out
The purpose of the clip is for the viewer to realize the seriousness of the situation and follow the guidelines that exist to avoid ending up in hospital, among other things by washing your hands and wearing a mouth guard, which unlike Sweden is mandatory in several places in the US .
- If I manage to prevent you from coming to the hospital because you were never infected as a result of this video, then it was worth it, he says.